helios 44M – 58mm/2.0

This lens comes in many flavours and each has different characteristics. Even lenses from the same factory with the same series can be very different. Russian quality control… Some of them have swirly bokeh and some apparently don’t. I’m lucky and my one has it! It is lovely :-).

This was a first time I had some time to use it and I’m really happy with the results. If you like instagram and other retro filters – forget about them and get this lens instead. It has it all built in. Did I mention it costs close to nothing? I think this lens will stay on my camera for a while.

If you are one of people obsessed with sharpness I have a good news! It is bloody sharp even wide open. Blooming however could be a problem in high contrast situations and the flare is quite extreme but it all can be used for creative effect. And it adds nice retro feel to the photo.